COVID-19 pandemic dramatically disrupted the people and polities globally, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region was no exception. Although the pandemic affected all countries, there were noticeable variations in its impact and management. The economies in the Gulf, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Israel, heavily reliant on global trade, services and tourism, suffered serious setbacks. In contrast, countries experiencing instability, such as Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya, faced different kinds of challenges due to ongoing economic, political, and social turmoil. The volume delves into how all the MENA countries were affected and responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. It explores the role of religion, internal and external politics and international organisations that shaped the responses of these countries. The volume analyses 20 countries across the MENA region, featuring extensive tables and figures to illustrate its findings. While aiming for academic rigor, the volume adopts a simple yet systemic approach to examine more than a dozen factors to understand the impact of the unprecedented global crisis in a crucial region.
P. R. Kumaraswamy is Professor of contemporary Middle East in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. From 1992 to 1999, he was a research fellow at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Jerusalem. Since joining JNU in September 1999, he has been researching, teaching, and writing on various aspects of the contemporary Middle East. His works include The Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Ringside View (2023), Squaring the Circle: Mahatma Gandhi and the Jewish National Home (2018), India's Israel Policy (2010), and Historical Dictionary of the Arab Israeli Conflict (2015, second edition). In February 2010, he set up the virtual Middle East Institute, New Delhi and serves as its honorary director. He is the founding editor of Contemporary Review of the Middle East (Sage India), editor of Minorities in World Affairs (Akashganga), Persian Gulf Series (Palgrave Macmillan), and The Palgrave International Handbook of Israel.
Sameena Hameed is Professor in Middle Eastern Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her areas of specialization include the Middle Eastern economy, India s economic relations with the Middle East and energy security issues, and she has contributed monographs, journal articles and chapters to edited volumes. In addition, she has prepared research papers and study reports for the Ministry of External Affairs and other trade and commerce organizations like ASSOCHAM. She has been a member of the MEA-constituted Select Group on Gulf and West Asia and of the Indian team for India GCC Strategic Partnership project and the Indo-Saudi Dialogue. She is also the Book Review Editor of Contemporary Review of the Middle East (Sage, India), co-author Persian Gulf 2021-22: India s Relations with the Region (2022) and editor of Youth Bloom in GCC (2022).
Md. Muddassir Quamar is an Associate Professor in Centre for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. Until March 2023, he was a Fellow in Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi and holds a Ph.D. in Middle East studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University. His published works include Persian Gulf 2023: India's Relations with the Region (2023), Türkiye's Foreign Policy under the AKP: Implications and Challenges for India (2023), Politics of Change in Middle East and North Africa since Arab Spring: A Lost Decade? (2022), Education System in Saudi Arabia: Of Change and Reforms (2021) and India's Saudi Policy: Bridge to the Future (2019) among others. Dr. Quamar has contributed several chapters to edited volumes and his research papers have appeared in reputed international peer-reviewed journals. He is Editor of Contemporary Review of the Middle East (Sage, India). In 2014-15, he was a visiting fellow in King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Riyadh
